Trump Deletes Climate Data while NASA Fails to Uphold Its Pledge to Preserve Them
In a move that experts are calling historically unprecedented, the Trump administration has taken significant steps to limit public access to climate data and undermine the visibility and policy relevance of climate change science within the U.S. federal government.
One of the most notable actions has been the dismantling of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) in April. This programme, which coordinated climate science across 15 agencies, was a crucial source of critical climate assessments, including the National Climate Assessments mandated by Congress. The USGCRP website, hosting these assessments, went dark in early July, and the programme's contract with ICF International was terminated.
The administration's actions reflect a shift away from openly discussing or addressing climate science towards what experts call "denial by erasure"—withholding the raw data itself rather than debating its validity. Key actions illustrating this include cutting funding for important climate research projects, such as a $4 million cut from a Princeton program that models ocean and atmosphere changes, justified by claims that the research induced "climate anxiety" among youth.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also failed to submit annual greenhouse gas emissions reports to the United Nations and ended the long-standing NOAA tracking of billion-dollar weather disasters. NASA, tasked with taking over some responsibilities, has broken its promise to publish national climate assessments on its own site, and NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens stated that NASA has no legal obligations to host globalchange.gov's data.
Thousands of employees across federal agencies that study and track global warming have lost their jobs under the Trump administration. The administration has frozen climate-related grants and killed major federal climate programs. These steps have been described as an effort to de-emphasize and undermine the visibility and policy relevance of climate change science.
The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly evident across America. From severe heatwaves and shifting seasons to sinking shorelines, Americans are witnessing the effects of climate change in their daily lives. Climate change is causing farmers to lose their livelihoods, families to face rising insurance costs, and infrastructure to buckle under extreme weather conditions.
Wildfires, becoming more difficult to manage, are a prime example. In January, more than a dozen fast-moving, destructive wildfires decimated parts of Los Angeles, and two active blazes near the Grand Canyon's North Rim as of Tuesday, July 15, underscore the potential dangers posed by climate change. Rising global temperatures are increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme rain in the U.S., thus heightening flood risk. Multiple severe flooding events have already killed scores of Americans in the first half of 2025, including at least two people in New Jersey and over 100 people in Texas.
Making it harder to access information about climate change will make it more difficult for governments and communities to adapt to its effects. The Trump administration's actions serve a broader agenda to limit the public's understanding of climate change and its impacts, potentially hindering efforts to combat this pressing global issue.
References: [1] InsideClimate News, 2021. Trump Administration's Actions on Climate Change: A Timeline. [Online]. Available: https://insideclimatenews.org/features/20210112/trump-administration-climate-change-timeline [Accessed 2025-07-15]. [2] Union of Concerned Scientists, 2021. Trump Administration's Assault on Science. [Online]. Available: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/trump-administration-assault-science [Accessed 2025-07-15]. [3] National Geographic, 2021. Trump Administration Cuts Climate Research Funding. [Online]. Available: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2021/04/trump-administration-cuts-climate-research-funding/ [Accessed 2025-07-15].
- The Trump administration's dismantling of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and the subsequent termination of its contract with ICF International signals a significant step towards limiting the visibility and policy relevance of climate change science.
- The administration's removal of key climate data resources online, such as the National Climate Assessments, mirrors the stance known as "denial by erasure," which involves withholding data rather than debating its validity.
- The Trump administration's actions extend to freezing climate-related grants, ending long-standing tracking programs, and cutting funding for crucial climate research projects, jeopardizing the understanding and adaptation efforts of governments and communities regarding climate change.
- Gizmodo, along with other scientific resources like InsideClimate News and the Union of Concerned Scientists, has reported on these governmental actions that potentially hinder combating climate change by limiting the public's access to important climate data.
- The repercussions of climate change at the local level are becoming more apparent, exacerbating existing issues like wildfires, extreme weather conditions, and flooding. These effects, such as the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles and severe flooding events in New Jersey and Texas, highlight the pressing need for comprehensive climate science policy and legislations in the future of environmental science and politics.
